Rachel Calogero joins Department of Psychology

January 12, 2017

Rachel Calogero, Associate Professor, Department of PsychologyRachel Calogero has joined the Western University Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. Calogero completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Kent, and most recently held a position as Reader in the School of Psychology at Kent.

Calogero researches the objectification of women and other relevant gender-related issues, including the experience of body image and the prevention of eating disorders, the social stigmatization of bodies, and support for social justice and equality.

“I am interested in how gender shapes our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that both help us and hurt us,” said Calogero. “Gender is a complex dynamic, and gender relations are anything but straightforward, so there is plenty to investigate.”

Calogero said her interest in understanding how social environments shape who we are and how we see the world led her to become a social psychologist.

Calogero is currently investigating the link between internalized objectification and women’s engagement in gender activism, as well as other social consequences of being objectified.

“Everyone’s lives are constrained to varying degrees by gender rules, and the backlash for violating gender rules is harsh for anyone who does so” said Calogero. “This research is important because it brings social psychological science to bear on fundamental social problems, many of which are intricately related to gender, and their solutions.”

Along with this research, Calogero is developing an undergraduate and graduate course on the Psychology of Gender, both of which will be available next year.

“I am excited to be in Canada and working alongside such a highly regarded community of psychologists who are making cutting-edge contributions to the field in many different areas of psychology,” said Calogero. “There seems to be a genuinely positive energy from the students, faculty, and staff around what is happening at Western right now and the direction the university is moving in, and I feel immensely fortunate to be part of it.”

Calogero is currently an Associate Editor for Body Image and the Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, and previously served as an Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Calogero is senior editor of Self-Objectification in Women: Causes, Consequences, and Counteractions, published by the American Psychological Association.